21 Jul 2023
The labour market remains extremely tight, with the most recent ABS Labour Force data, released yesterday, showing unemployment settling back to its low of 3.5 per cent. Unemployment has sat at this low level for the past 12 months , suggesting the labour market has reached its lower limit.
An additional 33,000 people joined the workforce in June, taking the number of employed people to 14.05 million. Overall, 410,000 people were added to the workforce over the past year, an increase of 3 per cent. More than 90 per cent of these additional workers were employed full time, with 380,000 full-time jobs added since June 2022.
There has been much discussion in the past week on comments by the incoming governor of the Reserve Bank, Michele Bullock, that employment will increase to return inflation to the target range of 2-3 per cent. Earlier research by the Reserve Bank and Treasury indicates full employment (the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment – NAIRU) to be around 4.5 per cent, suggesting a 150,000 increase in the number of unemployed people, from the current level of a little over 500,000.
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2024 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting Last week, Business at OECD (BIAC) participated in the OECD’s 2024 Ministerial Council Meeting to discuss the current Economic Outlook paper, strategic...
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Sustainability dialogue Austrade has convened the first Sustainability Dialogue with a large number of Australian Chamber – Tourism members in attendance. The dialogue was designed...
10/05/2024
Franchising Code of Conduct The Government has released its response to the Independent Review of the Franchising Code of Conduct which was undertaken by Dr Michael Schaper...
10/05/2024
Construction workers boost The housing and construction sector will receive a $90.6 millionboost to increase the number of skilled workers following a pre-Budget announcement this week. ...
10/05/2024
Future Gas Strategy The government released its Future Gas Strategy on Thursday, confirming the important role of gas in the energy transition. Gas will remain...
10/05/2024
Following its meeting earlier this week, the Reserve Bank board left the cash rate unchanged at 4.35 per cent, amid signs that inflation is declining...
18/08/2023
Background: The Departments of Health and Foreign Affairs and Trade are engaging in two negotiation processes through the World Health Organization (WHO) to strengthen the international legal...
28/07/2023
The latest vocational education and training (VET) data from 2022 is showing the beginning of a decline in student numbers. The National Centre for Vocational Education...
28/07/2023
ICC Australia National Policy Committee Meeting ACCI held the ICC Australia National Policy Committee Meeting with special guest speaker Paul Hubbard, acting deputy head of...
28/07/2023
Minister for Tourism Senator Don Farrell this week announced that funding through the $7.5 million ‘Choose Tourism’ program had been allocated. The program was established...
28/07/2023
Inflationary pressure softens ABS Consumer Price Index data released earlier this week showed inflation had dropped to 6 per cent year on year in the...
14/07/2023
ICC Australia National Policy Committee Meeting The ICC Australia National Policy Committee Meeting will be held virtually on Thursday, July 27 (2:30 – 3:30pm AEST). ...
14/07/2023
Next tranche of workplace relations law changes The ACCI workplace relations team continues to consult with members and industry on the government’s next tranche of...
14/07/2023
National Visitor Survey The latest National Visitor Survey results for domestic visitors was released this week. April 2023 saw mixed domestic tourism results when...
14/07/2023
All Jobs and Skills Councils officially online Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor this week confirmed all Jobs and Skills Councils have been formally...
14/07/2023
Ensuring targeted disaster funding – Independent Review Andrew Colvin AO APM will lead the Independent Review commissioned by the Federal Government. The review will consider how Commonwealth...
14/07/2023
Historically low labour productivity The Productivity Commission this week reported a 4.6 per cent decline in labour productivity for the 12 months to March 2023. This decline is partly...
7/07/2023
Following advice that WHS ministers would be asked to make a decision on whether to continue regulatory impact analysis for nine chemicals of concern -...
7/07/2023
Next tranche of workplace relations law changes The ACCI workplace relations team continues to consult with members and industry on the government’s next tranche of...
7/07/2023
ICC Australia National Policy Committee meeting The ICC Australia National Policy Committee will meet virtually on Thursday, 27 July, from 2:30 – 3:30pm AEST/ ...